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Are You Looking for a High-Growth Dividend Stock? AES (AES) Could Be a Great Choice

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Getting big returns from financial portfolios, whether through stocks, bonds, ETFs, other securities, or a combination of all, is an investor's dream. However, when you're an income investor, your primary focus is generating consistent cash flow from each of your liquid investments.

Cash flow can come from bond interest, interest from other types of investments, and of course, dividends. A dividend is the distribution of a company's earnings paid out to shareholders; it's often viewed by its dividend yield, a metric that measures a dividend as a percent of the current stock price. Many academic studies show that dividends account for significant portions of long-term returns, with dividend contributions exceeding one-third of total returns in many cases.

AES in Focus

Headquartered in Arlington, AES (AES - Free Report) is a Utilities stock that has seen a price change of 5.88% so far this year. The power company is currently shelling out a dividend of $0.14 per share, with a dividend yield of 3.57%. This compares to the Utility - Electric Power industry's yield of 2.92% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.92%.

In terms of dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $0.55 is up 5.8% from last year. AES has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis over the last 5 years for an average annual increase of 16.28%. Future dividend growth will depend on earnings growth as well as payout ratio, which is the proportion of a company's annual earnings per share that it pays out as a dividend. AES's current payout ratio is 44%, meaning it paid out 44% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

AES is expecting earnings to expand this fiscal year as well. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2019 is $1.34 per share, with earnings expected to increase 8.06% from the year ago period.

Bottom Line

Investors like dividends for a variety of different reasons, from tax advantages and decreasing overall portfolio risk to considerably improving stock investing profits. But, not every company offers a quarterly payout.

For instance, it's a rare occurrence when a tech start-up or big growth business offers their shareholders a dividend. It's more common to see larger companies with more established profits give out dividends. Income investors have to be mindful of the fact that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle during periods of rising interest rates. That said, they can take comfort from the fact that AES is not only an attractive dividend play, but also represents a compelling investment opportunity with a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).


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